What is it about fireworks? They never fail to make my heart race and put a grin on my face. The painting above was done by Cullen Justice in my art class a few days before the fourth. He painted his favorite family memory complete with his dad grilling hot-dogs on the girl.
Here are some of my own favorite memories from past independence days.
2009 at Uncle David's beach house-- watching fireworks from top-deck and seeing them all up and down the coastline for miles and miles.
2007 Driving over the Talmadge bridge in Savannah and timing it just perfectly so that we could see the fireworks over River St.
2004 Working at the A-Bar-A- Ranch in Wyoming. The kids counselors put up flags and banners around the pool side and then put barbecue sauce on what seems liked 100 pounds of ribs and chicken wings. We worked hard all day long, but at 9 p.m., when the fireworks started, we all laid back on our blankets outside of the ranch and watched a spectacular fireworks show right overhead. That same summer, my girlfriends and I snuck out of our cabins at midnight with thermoses of spiked hot-chocolate and watched a meteor shower as we sang the entire soundtrack to Dirty Dancing.
My favorite fourth of July memory ever...2006: Dave and I had just started dating and we returned home from our first road-trip together. Over the weekend, we saw a space shuttle launch at the cape, and then ate ridiculously large cheeseburgers in Daytona beach, Fla. We arrived back in Savannah just around 8:45 p.m.-- 15 minutes before the fireworks started on the river front. Racing over cobblestones and bricks in our flip-flops, we high-tailed it down Bull St. and made it just in time to watch the grand finale. It was hot, sweaty, and wonderful.
(Above: D is super cute even when preggo! Below: She really liked her quilt!)
In April, we learned that our great friends, Diana and Kevin, are having a baby boy! He's due to arrive in October and we are still eagerly awaiting the birth announcement and the great news. For a while, I've wanted to try my hand at a quilt. Melissa Wheeler (yep you Melissa!) inspired me with her quilt way back in Savannah, and so I have been churning little ideas around in my head for nearly 2 years! In addition, my friend, Diana, is a pro when it comes to knitting sweaters and gifts. She's made me some of the most beautiful things that I have in my closet, so I wanted to make her something super special too!
This summer, I had my chance to put my sewing machine where my mouth was! Diana and Kevin decorated their nursery with a jungle theme, and they've been referring to their little boy as their little monkey.... hence the little monkey quilt. I poked around online and found a few cute monkey quilts and fabrics. I ordered some Moda sock-monkey fabric from fabric.com, and then added in other patterns and colors as needed. For the back of the quilt I used a soft light green minky fabric. The best part was piecing together a happy little monkey on the front. I used remnants from my fabric tote and came up with a silly but super-cute monkey with his arms raised. Unfortunately, I didn't take a close-up picture of the monkey--- but you can still see it in the pictures.
The quilt took me FOREVER, but it was a joy to make and it was so fun to complete. I didn't know how to bind a quilt, so I stitched the front and back together like a pillow, turned them inside out and then top-stitched around the border. It's not a perfect quilt, but it's a quilt made with love and made to be loved! Enjoy! 
Where did it go? It's so cliche that I don't even want to say it, but it's true... time flies.
